I wrote my first piece for the NY Times the other day -- and it's up now! I was fortunate enough to be asked to be the lone male voice in the "Room For Debate" on How Can Women Gain Influence In Hollywood. It's an excellent discussion and a great group of commentators. It's also a question that action is not taken on enough.
My piece begins:

Mainstream mass-market film culture is stuck in a deep rut. When making money is the top priority, people produce work and hire people who keep them in power. Call it risk mitigation or cowardice, the lack of women in Hollywood comes from the same root.

Industries are like people: they change only when the pain of the present outweighs the fear of the future. The stakes may be too great for Hollywood to ever accept that audiences and communities want something other than what they have already had. If audiences continue to behave like the March Hare in “Alice in Wonderland,” confusing "I like what I get" for “I get what I like,” neither films nor the entities that produce them will evolve.

Leadership is required to recognize that “When Harry Met Sally,” "Bridesmaids" and "Lost in Translation" are not outliers, but clear indicators of vast communities of underserved audiences. Unfortunately, the movie industry is designed to follow the competitor, creating perpetually redundant stories, creators and executives. The entire film business remains predicated on antiquated concepts of scarcity of content and control thereof. It should instead get ambitious and start to redesign itself for today’s reality of super-abundance of — and total access to — hugely varied content.

SF Film Society Blog

Buy your tickets to see #LeahWolchok's #VerySemiSerious at the @sfjewishfilm Saturday August 1!

See #Meru and more #SFIFF theatrical releases coming to #BayArea theaters this month. Read all about it on our blog > blog.sffs.org

Congratulations to Tom Gilroy on winning the 2015 #Djerassi Residency Award / #SFFS Screenwriting Fellowship! Read all about Gilroy and his winning script Our Lady of the Snow on our blog at blog.sffs.org

See @josefkubotawladyka's @manossuciasmovie at @roxie_theater Aug 7! In mean the meantime be sure to apply for the SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant at our site sffs.org.

Ya snooze, ya lose. Apply NOW for the FilmHouse Residency program before it's too late! Early Deadline is TOMORROW. Apply at site ASAP > sffs.org

Check out @SOMArts #nightlightparty ! See and experience works from over 50 artists on July 18, 8:30-midnight.

#AardmanAnimations is releasing an advance screening of their new film #ShaunTheSheepMovie August 4 at #ClayTheater! Don't miss the opportunity to meet up with co-directors #MarkBurton and #RichardStarzak who will be answering audience questions after the screening.

Don't forget to check out this gem directed by #LeahMeyerhoff screening 7:00 tomorrow night at @roxie_theater!!!

Filmmaker @mike.day talks about the challenges and adventures behind the making of #TheIslandAndTheWhales in our latest blog post at blog.sffs.org. Check it out! #SFIFF